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Umino Iruka
Umino Iruka (うみのイルカ) is a chunin -level shinobi of Konohagakure who serves primarily as an instructor at the Ninja Academy. Background Iruka's parents were killed in the Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha twelve years before the beginning of the series. Initially, a young Iruka was present on the battlefield, and wanted to stay in order to protect his mother. His father declared that it was the parents' duty to keep their child safe from harm. He was forcibly removed from the battlefield by an unknown shinobi. With his family gone, Iruka had no one to give him attention. Iruka therefor became a prankster much like Naruto would later become, trying to gain attention to stave off his loneliness. He would spend his time at the monument where his parents' names were engraved, and, in his darkest moments would be cheered up by the Third Hokage. Mizuki was a childhood friend of Iruka's after the Nine-Tails Attack, and usually made him feel better. In the anime, it was noted that due to other people giving Iruka more attention than they do to Mizuki, Mizuki's kindness to Iruka revealed to be an act just to gain the Hokage's approval, all the while making Iruka miserable discreetly. In the anime, it was revealed that Iruka became a teacher because he wanted to pass on the Will of Fire to the next generation in this manner, inspired by the Third Hokage's wisdom. When Naruto became his student, he found it awkward to deal with the person containing the very monster responsible for his parents' death. He tried to ask the Third Hokage if he could not teach Naruto, though he was eventually disabused by the notion of Kakashi. Later, Naruto went into the woods to steal items from corpses. Iruka chased him down and protected him from Takigakure spies who were attacking Naruto, eventually backed up by Kakashi. After saving Naruto and bringing back the document attached to the artefact the latter retrieved, he thanked the Third for assigning Naruto to him. He thus resolved to be straight forward and deal with Naruto strictly in class from then on, in order to train him to become a fine shinobi. Personality Iruka is described as being both big-hearted, and soft-hearted. This is most often seen through his teaching methods, often giving a watchful eye over his students as they progress. This however, does not mean that he is a pushover, as he can be stern when the situation calls for it most often seen when he shouts at his students in order to get them to obey him. Despite the tragedy of losing his parents at a young age, Iruka remained a determined and strong-willed individual with a kind disposition. This is seen from his lack of hostility towards Naruto Uzumaki who was often the victim of misplaced anger at the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox who was sealed within Naruto. As a child growing up without his parents, Iruka turned to performing antics in the Academy in order to gain recognition from others who would otherwise pass him over or look at him with pity for being an orphan. This allowed him to also see some of these signs and understand what they meant when displayed by Naruto. Due to Iruka's more nurturing and compassionate nature, Naruto views him as a mentor and Iruka in turn, views Naruto as a younger brother. The two enjoy their favourite ramen dish at Ramen Ichiraku whenever Naruto returns from a mission, where Iruka gets an opportunity to see how Naruto is developing as a ninja. Iruka's refusal to allow Naruto to graduate at first was not out of spite, but merely out of caring strictness and a desire for Naruto to work harder and reach his own potential. He also has a great sense of duty, honour and selflessness as seen when he protected Naruto from Mizuki's attack, suffering a shuriken wound in his back in order to protect him. He greatly admires both the Third Hokage who was there to help him during his troubled period as a child and believes strongly in the Will of Fire of the village. As a result, he regards the children of the village as the backbone of Konoha — even being willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure their safety. Appearance Iruka is a man of average height and build. He has black hair (brown in the anime) that he keeps in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar that runs across the bridge of his nose — which he has had since his youth. He wears the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with forehead protector, sandals, and flak jacket. His sleeves are also rolled up about ¼ way. As a child he wore a simple outfit along with mesh-armour underneath it. Abilities As a head instructor of the Academy, he is clearly proficient in all forms of basic ninja skills. He has some ability with Barrier Ninjutsu, as he is seen creating a barrier in an attempt to restrain Naruto. Iruka is also very perceptive as he is able to assess situations carefully and quickly while under threat. In the anime, Iruka's skills were expanded upon and it was shown that he had some knowledge of genjutsu, as demonstrated when he posed as an enemy Amegakure ninja to test Sakura,[7] and he also saw through the genjutsu cast by Mizuki.[8] During the Mizuki Strikes Back Arc, Iruka showed some skill in taijutsu as well, by keeping on equal footing with the now-improved Mizuki in his attacks. Iruka was also shown using Sealed Bomb Square Release, which consists of setting an array of exploding tags and, once the target has entered the area, setting the tags to detonate if the target moves. Also, in the anime, Iruka displayed what seems to be an echolocation ability where he can get a sonar image of his surrounding area, perhaps playing on the meaning of his name, "dolphin". Naruto series (Part 1) Introduction arc When Naruto managed to evade other ninja after desecrating the Hokage Monument with graffiti, Iruka captures his student and berates him for not focusing on the upcoming graduating exams. While Naruto was supposed to transform into Iruka, he instead id his Sexy Technique, with Iruka suffering a massive nosebleed before giving Naruto a reprimanding. Iruka then punished Naruto to clean the Hokage Monument, but then invited him to Ramen Ichiraku, where he learned of Naruto's dream to be Hokage. Next day, when Naruto failed to conjure three clones, Iruka failed him despite Mizuki's false sympathetic reconsideration, when Mizuki tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals, Iruka tracked down Naruto before realising too late that the boy was set up.Iruka watches horribley as Naruto finds out that he is a jinchuriki.Iruka remebers the talk that he had with Hiruzen, and that Naruto was excatly like him growing up. Iruka protected Naruto from Mizuki's attacks before Naruto runs off upon learning he is the Nine-Tails jinchūriki. Now protecting Naruto regardless of him learning the truth, Iruka insisted that he never hated Naruto and sees him as only a ninja of their village. Witnessing Naruto create a high amount of advanced clones after being spurred by his faith in him, Iruka allowed Naruto to graduate from the Academy.Naruto then hugged Iruka for always acknowledging him from his childhood. Iuka gave Naruto his own forehead protector,since Naruto always admire Iruka wearing it. Iruka was next seen asking the third Hokage if Naruto has handed in his Ninja Registration report.He then leaarns the truth why Minato sealed the Kuara inside Naruto, and why Naruto had such a heavy burden by the villagers. Iruka realizes that Minato want the villagers to look up to Naruto as a hero, and not as the host of Kurama. Iruka was next seen announcing that Naruto,Sakura and Sasuke were now call Team 7. He told Naruto that he had the worst scores in the Ninja academy ,while Sasuke had the best scores.Which made them be combine to a team.He was happily knowing that Naruto will get along with Sasuke and Sakura. Iruka was next seen finding out that Kakashi failed all his students, and was hoping that Kakashi won't fail Naruto,Sasuke and Sakura. His voice was then heard in fourteenth episode,narrating the background of Squad 7 before they show up to fight Haku. Chunin Exam Arc When Team 7 is entered in the Chūnin Exams, Iruka voiced concern and as such, in the anime, he personally tested each member individually to see if they were ready by disguising himself as a Amegakure ninja. Once they passed the exam's second phase, he acted as a messenger that granted them access to the preliminaries. Invasion of Konoha Arc During the invasion of Konoha, Iruka escorted his students to safety in the shelters behind the Hokage Monument- promising that he and the other instructors would protect them "even at the cost of our lives". He shared ominous looks with Konohamaru when Hiruzen's representation cracked, later comforting Konohamaru during the Third Hokage's funeral. Search for Tsunade Arc Iruka met Naruto at their favourite Ramen Ichiraku to listen to Naruto talk about his adventure and later explained to Naruto that they have to do many missions to show other villages that they were still strong, even though their strength had been cut in half. Pre Shippuuden Filler arc In the aftermath of the invasion, Iruka was forced to suspend his teaching duties in order to go on missions and fill the void in personnel. In the anime, he was assisted by Pakkun to find Mizuki and go after Naruto and Tonton. When Iruka caught up, they send Tonton back to the village and Pakkun leads Naruto and Iruka to Shizune. Shizune led them in pursuing Mizuki, when they soon fell into a trap. Iruka then revealed that Shizune is not Shizune but Mizuki himself. While Naruto battles with Fūjin and Raijin, Iruka battles it out with Mizuki. Iruka wanted to bring the "old" Mizuki back, but Mizuki revealed that he was only nice to Iruka because he is the Third Hokage's favourite. Mizuki led Iruka into a building used to test Academy instructors and battled there. After that, Naruto and Pakkun caught up with Iruka and they went to Mizuki's lover, Tsubaki. Tsubaki helped them reach Mizuki but it was too late. Mizuki had drank a formula and became stronger and monstrous. They battled again with Mizuki having the upper edge. Iruka came up with a plan to trap Mizuki, giving Naruto a chance to use Rasengan on Mizuki. He later found time at the end of Part I to see Naruto off before he left the village to train with Jiraiya. Naruto Shippuden (Part ll) Kazekage Rescue Arc Iruka met with Naruto when he returned two and a half years later, and cheered him up after he found out that all of his friends had advanced in rank during his absence.He saw Naruto complain to Tsunade about his new mission, Iruka say that Naruto has grown but not mature in three and a half years. He then saw Naruto left for his mssion to Sunagakure, and tell him good luck.Tsunade asked him if he was worry, and he say no. He told Tsunade that Naruto and Sakura were no longer little kids. Hidan and Kakuzu arc Iruka was surprise when Konohamaru said that Naruto was helping repair Konoha as well. Iruka was happy to see that Konohamaru,Mogei and Udon were helping repair Konoha. He then them that he was happy to be their teacher. Iruka saw Sakura with food pills for Naruto. He tells her how happy he is that Naruto is training hard to get stronger. He comments on how everyone is changing, and that he was happy to have such great students in the Ninja Academy. That night,Sakura wept over her photo of Team 7, and Naruto. After witnessing a shooting star, managed to clear the second stage of his training, but subsequently collapsed from hunger and exhaustion almost immediately afterwards. Sakura reveal that Iruka was right about everyone changing,not only her but Naruto and Sasuke as well. Iruka was then seen at Asuma's funeral,mouring his death. Invasion of Pain arc After Jiraiya was killed, Iruka comforted Naruto, and told him that Jiraiya would always be proud of him. He went on to inform Naruto of how Jiraiya had always bragged about him, and had mentioned multiple times how he thought of Naruto as a grandson. Iruka also reminded him that he was now the one to carry on Jiraiya's legacy. During Pain's attack on Konoha, Iruka was found by one of Pain's bodies while attending to a wounded ninja. He refused to tell Pain where Naruto was, and was almost killed. Kakashi intervened, however, allowing Iruka a chance to get the ninja to the hospital and to later join a squad of Konoha ninja to help repel the invasion. Following Pain's attack, Iruka was last seen apparently injured but alive, having been protected by one of Katsuyu's divisions. After Pain resurrected everyone he had killed, Iruka was seen standing along with the rest of the villagers. He thought back to the days when Naruto was at the Academy, and compared it to the present while watching Naruto being cheered at by the whole village. After these memories, a proud smile spread across his face. Konoha History Arc Iruka, along with Suzume and Daikoku approach the ruins of the Academy to salvage things for class. They split up and Iruka sees the destroyed academy, remembering when he began as a teacher and the day Hiruzen assigned Naruto to his class. Though he refused at first, due to Naruto being the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, Iruka accepts. The next day, Naruto pulls a prank on Iruka but instead of scolding him, Iruka tells Naruto sit in his seat, remembering the advice given to him from Daikoku. When seeing Naruto being bullied by the other students because of his failed attempts to be better than Sasuke, Iruka tells them not to bother a kid like him. .At first, he picked Shino,but Shino say no, and then he picked Sasuke who was great at it. Naruto talks angrily at Sasuke's performance, and Iruka says that Naruto can have a turn. Naruto does the shuriken technique,but Iruka found out that he is not good at it. The next day, Naruto learns that Sasuke is the only surviving member of the Uchiha clan. After class, Naruto wants to join Hibachi and his friends in their "test of courage" though Hibachi tells him to not follow them. Naruto pranks them later in the night by dressing up as a fox demon. Hearing them say they saw a fox demon, Iruka runs to the Konoha grave site and learns it's Naruto. Recognising Iruka's glare as the same one everyone else in the village gives him, Naruto runs off with the intent not to return to the Academy again. The next day, with Naruto is absent in class and, Iruka asks Sakura,Ino and Kiba if they seen him,But all three of them said no. He then denied to be seen by the Third Hokage, Iruka sits in the park where he meets Kakashi Hatake and discusses his issues of being Naruto's teacher. Kakashi remembers when after his mission with him, Iruka decides to become an instructor at the Academy to pass the Will of Fire to the next generation.He then spots Naruto at the playground and watches as Naruto glares at the other kids with thier parents.That same Night, Iruka remebers about Kurama attacking Konoha.When Iruka sees that Naruto is absent in class, Hibachi says he hasn't seen him, but Shikamaru Nara, having heard of his trick, tells Iruka who runs out the classroom to find Naruto. Remembering Suzume telling him of the enemy ninja, Iruka tries to find Naruto before the enemy ninja find him. Elsewhere, Kakashi hears from Shikamaru and Chōji that Iruka went to look for Naruto in the hills. Iruka finds Naruto and tries to get him to go back to the Academy, but Naruto refuses and tells him that he doesn't understand him. Naruto uses his Sexy Technique to escape Iruka before finding a kunai with a paper on it. Three enemy ninja approach Naruto, demanding that he gives them the kunai but he refuses, having them resort to get it by force. Finding his Sexy Technique useless on women, Naruto flees before running into Iruka as he protects the boy while evading the kunoichi until Kakashi arrives and easily defeats the female ninja. Iruka gives the Third Hokage the paper that was hidden on the kunai that Naruto found. Iruka then thanks Hiruzen for making him Naruto's teacher which made him remember why he became a teacher. Now being a suggoate Father for Naruto to keep him from getting into trouble, Iruka's after class lecture on the Will of Fire gave Naruto his inspirations to become the next Hokage someday so everyone would respect and look up to him. In the present,Iruka pictures the now 16 year Naruto reaching his 166 cm height on the mark of the tree. He says that Naruto will become Hokage, before help some Konoha ninja. Fourth Shinobi War Arc During the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto and Killer B, as the last two jinchūriki, were confined to an island to keep them out of Akatsuki's clutches, (Naruto being unaware of this, and the war). After Naruto began to get suspicious and tried to leave, a handful of shinobi tried to stop and convince him to go back in. Iruka was among them, and he convinced Shibi Aburame to let him talk to Naruto. Iruka attempted to trick Naruto into believing he had a second mission on the island. However, Naruto decided to go outside anyway and used Sage Mode to barge past the guards, in the process losing his forehead protector. Before he could leave, however, he was bound by the Shadow Imitation Technique by a Nara clan member, but not before he sensed the war raging outside. With Naruto demanding the truth, Iruka revealed that there was a war raging in order to protect him, and tried to persuade him not to intervene and risk capture. When Naruto declared that he would end the war on his own, Iruka said that Naruto was like a little brother to him, and he wouldn't be able to bear it if Naruto was captured. Naruto stated that it was Iruka who first recognised him and gave him his forehead protector, and asked him why he doubted his power now. Glancing down at Naruto's fallen forehead protector, Iruka decided to return it to him, only to erect a barrier to trap Naruto. Naruto however enters his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and easily breaks out of the barrier and resisted all attempts to subdue him, before making his way to the battlefield. On his way, Naruto found a note in his forehead protector, from Iruka, telling him to come back alive. When Killer B arrived, Iruka told him to protect Naruto and they bumped fists. The Eight-Tails told him that he couldn't keep an eye on Naruto but B said no one could, and said to Iruka that he was in Naruto's heart and everything he taught was still inside, even today. Film Appearances Naruto the movie l Iruka was only seen in a Flashback when Naruto was in a prison cell with Yukie Kazahana trying to brak the chains that were holdind his arms together. Naruto Shippuuden movie llllll The movie starts with a flashback to the Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha, which then flash forward to eight members of Akatsuki that are meant to be dead which unsettles Sakura. Shikamaru states there is no point in wondering why the dead are back alive and quickly comes up with a counter plan, but Naruto quickly attacks Akatsuki head on, forcing the rest of the Konoha 11 plus Sai,Kakashi and Guy to attack. The battle continues until Naruto is caught by Kakuzu, Sai frees Naruto by cutting part of Kakuzu's arm off, causing the Akatsuki to retreat. Naruto and his friends return home, where most of Naruto's peers are congratulated by their families whom all promise to write a recommendation letter so they can become jōnin although Sakura has a little fight with her family who embarrasses her in front of the others. As Naruto returns home, he passes many families causing him to reminisce of his father and mother causing him to get lonelier. He then asks Iruka for a letter of recommendation of his own, but Iruka refuses as Naruto is only a genin and must become a chūnin and rise through the ranks just as Minato and all other jonin did. Naruto is saddened by his lonely lifestyle and the fact no one seems to understand him, and storms off. He meets Sakura, who had an argument with her family and also stormed out, grabbing Naruto's hand and telling him to go on a date with her. While Sakura complains of her family, Tobi appears in front of them and after a small scuffle, he then activates the limited Tsukuyomi. Naruto and Sakura are absorbed in a flash of light, and later find themselves still in the same park they were before. They run into their friends including Sasuke, but with different personalities and no one knows who Tobi is. They realize they are in another world where Sakura's father was the Fourth Hokage, who saved the village instead of Minato, and in this world Naruto is named Menma instead. As Naruto and Sakura return home Sakura is happy for the new freedom she has, while Naruto hurries home to his apartment hoping to see his parents, only to find he does not live there. Tobi reveals that the dead Akatsuki members in the beginning were only Zetsu clones. In the Genjutsu World, a man in a mask meets Tobi and they agree to work together. Elsewhere, as Sakura is looking through her dresser, she sees the same coat that Naruto's father had there. She then meets Sasuke who gives her a flower and flirts with her. Naruto and Sakura meet in the morning to try to gather more information of their current world, although Sakura enjoys this world as she has more freedom and is well loved by the village thanks to her father's actions. Naruto, on the other hand, wants to return home as fast as possible. Naruto and Sakura meet Tsunade and Shizune who tells them that a masked man attacked Kumogakure, and killed their jinchūriki which Naruto and Sakura believe to have been Tobi. They then meet Naruto's parents who are alive. Minato says that Jiraiya died finding the Red Moon Scroll that was said to help save the world. Tsunade lets Naruto and Sakura join Minato and Kushina on their mission when Kakashi and Guy return. Sakura is shocked at finding out who Naruto's parents are, while Naruto is angry that Tobi would dare to make copies of his dead parents and he swears to break the Genjutsu. While Sakura is still enjoying her life, she wonders how Naruto is doing. While Naruto attempts to ignore his parents, he sees an album showing him, how his life would have been if his parents had been alive. In the morning, Sakura notes that this world's Kakashi and Guy switched personalities, while Naruto isolates himself from his parents at every turn. They soon locate where Jiraiya hid the scroll, but as the group stops to rest Naruto charges ahead until he is confronted by the summoning of Gamabunta, Gamahiro and Gamaken. They refuse to listen to Naruto and the group who explains their reason for being there and attacks them with an army of frogs. Naruto attempts to use Sage Mode, but is unable to gather enough energy before Gamabunta attacks him. Kushina protects him, but hurts herself from a shot of acid that burns Kushina's leg. Minato saves both of them and quickly is able to get the scroll, unsummoning the toads. As Sakura heals Kushina, Naruto still attempts to brush off his parents, causing Minato to say no matter what Naruto does, they will always try to save him. Kushina then awakens and hugs Naruto, causing him to be unable to try to ignore his parents any longer and finally accepts them. They return to Konoha, where Tsunade locks the scroll in the villages Safe up till the night when a red moon will appear when they can use the scroll to fulfill the said prophecy. As Naruto and Sakura walk home, Naruto quickly walks home leaving Sakura alone and happily walks into his house. She instead finds her home too lonely and wonders if Naruto's always this alone. As she walks down town she sees happy families, only making her more sad. She then realizes that this world's Sasuke is just a flirt and decides that Naruto was right on his decision to quickly break the genjutsu they're now trapped in and wishes to return to their own world. As she walks to Naruto's home to try to find a way to break the genjutsu, she see how happy Naruto is and wonders should they leave. Sakura later meets Naruto, and asks him if he wants to stay. Although he denies it, he later thinks to himself that he truly does not want to leave. At that moment an explosion occurs at the Hokage's office, where the masked man from earlier asks for the scroll they brought back. He overpowers Minato, Kushina, and Tsunade, till Naruto and Sakura arrive. They realize that this was the man Tsunade was talking about, and that he knows Tobi. He overpowers Naruto and Sakura, and kidnaps Sakura in exchange for the scroll. He then uses Great Spiralling Ring, destroying a large part of Konoha and leaves. Naruto tries to save Sakura, but Minato prevents him, showing that in the end this world's Minato is different from his father. He takes one of Minato's kunai and the scroll leaving with Sakura's father's Hokage coat. Sakura is tied up and meets Tobi who is a ghost saying they are in an old training ground that Minato and Jiraiya used. Naruto arrives but is attacked by the other masked man asking for the scroll. Naruto is unable to fight properly as his stomach acts up, the Masked Man then takes the time to summon the Nine Masked Beasts, and about to kill Naruto when the Akatsuki arrives and saves him. This Akatsuki was hired by Tsunade to help Naruto, and they deal with the masked beasts when Naruto attacks the masked man.Itachi saves Sakura and Tobi decides to escape instead. The Akatsuki defeats the masked beasts that turn into nine fox kits, while Naruto chased the masked man into the training grounds. They then fight, Naruto uses Sage Mode and uses the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken to counter the Masked Man's Great Spiralling Ring. It ends in a draw, but the attack destroy the masked man's mask, showing that he is Menma, this world's Naruto. Menma then called back the defeated masked beasts, and summoned Kurama's counterpart, the Black Nine-Tails. Naruto was unable to attack, while the Akatsuki retreat, taking Sakura with them. Not wanting to be manipulated by the Sharingan again, Kurama makes a truce with Naruto to work together, allowing him to summon Kurama out of his body. In the battle Naruto is barely able to win, but Tobi reveals that this was his plan, to have Naruto and Menma fight, as doing so would cause the two foxes to fight and weaken Kurama. As he possessed Menma, Kurama warned Naruto if he looked into Menma's Sharingan, it would be all over for Tobi planned to extract Kurama out of Naruto the same way he extracted it from Kushina 16 years ago. Naruto tries to use the scroll when he notices the moon had turned red, but Menma cuts the scroll, causing Naruto to look in Menma's eyes. Naruto's memories were erased, but Sakura rescues him. Naruto, looking at half of the scroll, is able to remember Jiraiya and his memories. He then defeats Tobi the same way his father did breaking the Limited Tsukiyomi. Tobi using his ghost body tries again, till Minato and Kushina arrive. Tobi decides to give up and exits the genjutsu world just as Naruto and Sakura are enveloped in a bright light preparing to return to their world as well, but beforehand Naruto thanks Minato and Kushina who quickly goes to assist Menma who is returning to his original state as their son. Naruto and Sakura returns to their world, where Naruto's Hokage coat breaks down since it was only part of the genjutsu world and not real. Naruto and Sakura tell Tsunade and Kakashi of what transpired and sets out more guard patrol since Tobi was easily able to enter further in the village than they imagined. As they both return home, Naruto watches Sakura as she meets her parents, happily hugging them, he approaches her asking her out on a date, but Sakura tells him they just came back from the longest date ever, causing Naruto's shock. As Naruto goes home, he sees Iruka in his house, waiting to apologise to him. Afterwards Naruto happily walks through the village while quoting that the road of a ninja is one who endures. Video Games Iruka Umino is a playable character in the following video games: Quotes *(Regarding Naruto) "Yeah… the Demon Fox would the power of the Scoll to do whatever it wanted… but Naruto is different. I've acknowledged him as… one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker… and he is clumsy and no one accepts him… but he already knows what it is to feel pain inside your heart. He isn't the Demon Fox. He is a member of the Konohagakure. He's Uzumaki Naruto!" *(To Naruto) "Master Jiraiya only had praise for you. He was always boasting about you, saying you were like his own grandchild. He had faith that you were the one who would inherit his will, and truly believed that you would one day be a great Hokage. Master Jiraiya will always watch over you. Even this very minute, he's watching from somewhere. He wouldn't be happy seeing you sad like this. So… Be your usual self, the one he praised so much. Don't stay depressed forever. For Master Jiraiya himself, one of the Legendary Sannin… acknowledged you as his promising student!" *(To Naruto) "Stop acting like a baby! You want to know what I really think of you?! I think you're one of my most precious students… and… you're like a little brother to me." *(Letter to Naruto) "I expected you'd try to rush out to the battlefield right away. I know you're ready to fight. If you're reading this letter it means I couldn't stop you. Lady Tsunade ordered us to Kumogakure's secret island to guard you and delay you from leaving as long as possible. I'm writing this letter just in case things don't work out like I want them to… which is pretty pathetic considering I'll be on an official mission. But if that's how it goes… I don't know if I'll manage to give this to you or not, but there's something I need to tell you. In fact, now that you've left, it's the only thing left to say. Come back alive, Naruto!" Relationships Uzumaki Naruto Sarutobi Hiruzen Mizuki Jiraiya Haruno Sakura Hatake Kakashi Uchiha Sasuke Hyuga Hinata Inuzuka Kiba Nara Shikamaru Akimichi Choji Yamanaka Ino Aburame Shino Tsunade Gaara Temari Sarutobi Konohamaru Moegi Udon Teuchi Ayame Mitarashi Anko His late parents Knownable Relatives *His mother and father (parents/deceased) *Uzumaki Naruto (childhood student/Surrogate Son) Trivia *Despite having made very few appearances later on in the series, he has finished in the top five in every poll until the most recent poll. *Iruka was one of five characters that have stayed in the Top Ten of every Character Popularity Poll. *In the first databook, Iruka's age was given as 25. In the second, it was listed as 23. *The name "Umino Iruka" when broken down as "umi no iruka", means "sea dolphin". *According to the databook(s): **Iruka's hobby is going to the hot springs. **Iruka's favourite food is ramen from Ramen Ichiraku, with his least favourite being mazegohan (混ぜ御飯, blended rice); a type of takikomi gohan, but with the ingredients added in various stages while cooking. **Iruka wishes to fight Kurama and his students. **Iruka has completed 573 official missions in total: 288 D-rank, 183 C-rank, 90 B-rank, 12 A-rank, 0 S-rank. **Iruka's favourite word is "Reliance" (信頼, Shinrai). Voice Actors Japanese : Toshihiko Seki (adult), Taisuke Yamamoto (child) English : Quinton Flynn (Child & Adult) Gallery